Tree Service in Wartrace, TN

Wartrace is a Bedford County town of 653 people at the 2020 census, northeast of Shelbyville. It is known as the cradle of the Tennessee Walking Horse, and its horse show has run every year since 1906. Tree Service in Wartrace often happens on farms: big shade trees standing alone in pastures, tree lines along fences, and trees around barns and run-in sheds. In town, the Wartrace Historic District covers the downtown.

Pasture trees take a beating

A lone shade tree in a pasture lives a hard life. Animals pack the soil around it, rub its bark and gather under it in summer, and with nothing around to block the wind it takes every storm head-on. Lightning is also more likely to hit a tall tree standing by itself in open ground. When we look at a pasture tree we check for:

• Compacted, bare soil and exposed roots around the trunk
• Bark rubbed or chewed off near the base
• Dead limbs that could drop on stock below
• Lightning scars running down the trunk
• Decay where big limbs have broken in past storms

Toxic leaves

Some common trees are dangerous to horses and cattle when the leaves wilt. Red maple leaves are toxic to horses, and wild cherry leaves are toxic to livestock in general. After a storm brings down branches from those trees, clear them from pastures before animals can graze them. When we remove or prune those species on a farm, we clean up the leaves and twigs, not just the wood.

A depot that became a town

Wartrace was incorporated in 1858 and was first called Wartrace Depot, a stop on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad that saw as many as 13 trains a day at its peak. During the Civil War it was the winter headquarters of Confederate General William J. Hardee. Today the Walking Horse and Eastern Railroad links Wartrace and Shelbyville and runs part-time.

Fence lines between paddocks

On horse farms, tree lines often double as windbreaks and shade between paddocks. Keeping them healthy matters, but so does keeping them off the fence. Volunteer trees that sprout along board or wire fences are easy to remove when small. A fallen limb across a fence at night is how horses get out, so dead limbs over fence lines are worth removing before storm season. We can work along a fence row in sections, so you only need to move stock out of one paddock at a time.

Weather

Wartrace has a humid subtropical climate, with precipitation fairly even through the year and an average of about 55 inches. Rain that steady keeps pastures green and trees growing fast, and it also keeps soils soft in late winter and spring. We often schedule heavy work on farms for drier stretches so equipment does not rut fields.

Call (615) 558-8730 or use the form. Tell us about livestock, gates and fences so we can plan the work. Get a free estimate